


Days of Our Lives

by typewriterandtea



Category: Major Crimes (TV), The Closer
Genre: AU, F/M, Shandy, now a series of one shots., originally a prompt, prompt, younger rusty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-22
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-03-02 21:13:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2826278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/typewriterandtea/pseuds/typewriterandtea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Rusty goes into Sharon's care when he's 6, not 16" - originally a prompt from the Closer Fic Fest, which has now been turned into a series of one shots. Originally titled "Saturdays"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Boys will be boys.

After raising a son of her own, Sharon was sure of that. Regardless of the almost two decades of an age difference between Ricky and Rusty, one thing seemed to stay the same. Saturday mornings. Sitting at the kitchen table, Rusty attempted to crack his neck far enough forward to see the fast moving shapes of Tom and Jerry, as the dog continued to chase the mouse.

Looking up from her paperwork, Sharon found herself watching the young boy. The only thing six year old boys should be worrying about was getting home in time to catch the first notes of the theme tune to their favourite cartoon, not about being abandoned in a zoo by the one person in the world who was meant to love you unconditionally and then managing to stumble onto a crime scene.

The reality of it all broke her heart.

Rusty attempted to keep his eyes fixed on the screen while mastering the art of ensuring that the sugar loaded 'Lucky Charms' - his typical Saturday morning treat - landed in his mouth and not down the front of his Spiderman pajamas. He was full aware of the fact that Sharon would not be impressed if he managed to ruin another pair of pajamas.

As her phone began to ring, its shrilling tone echoing through the condo, Sharon's bare feet padded across the wooden floors as she made her way towards the marble countertop. "Lieutenant, good morning" She spoke, bringing them phone to her ear as she prepared herself for having her weekend plans thrown out the window. "Good morning to you to0, Captain. I'm afraid we've caught a case" Provenza announced, hearing Sharon sighing on the other end of the phone, no doubt she had plans of spending her rare weekend off with Rusty. The aging Lieutenant would never let anyone - not even Flynn, oh God no, not Flynn - know that he felt sorry for the Captain, he would never live it down.

The woman had hardly taken a day off since becoming Head of the LAPD's Major Crime division, as well as Rusty's foster Mother. As per usual, it was the one Saturday that the woman had booked off, something about going to buy a new game - the one with flying birds that were almost as annoying as Rios - that Sharon had promised to buy Rusty for his game console.

"I'll be there in half an hour" Sharon declared before hanging up the phone, standing up from the table with her half eaten fruit salad in one hand and her untouched Earl Grey in the other. So much for a peaceful weekend.

"Rusty, get ready, we have to go into the office" Sharon said, washing both her cup and bowl ,placing them on the drainer before moving towards the television screen to turn it off.

"Sharon" Rusty groaned, attempting to look over the woman at the blank television screen. "But we're getting my game today, right?" Rusty asked in a small voice, dropping his silver spoon into his lucky charms as a look of pure panic came to the child's face. "I promise that as soon as we close this case I'll go and get your game" She compromised, heading towards the table to take his plate and glass. Rusty sighed, deciding there was no point continuing to complain as he headed down the hallway to put the clothes on that Sharon had set out for him.

"Five minutes, Rusty!" Sharon shouted as she headed into her own bedroom to change into something presentable for the workplace, certainly not the medium wash jeans and emerald silk blouse that she was currently wearing.

The familiar 'click clack' of her Manolo Blanik's announced their arrival as they echoed off the cold, hard ground. Provenza drowned the last of his coffee before discarding the paper cup into the bin, making a mental note to replace his usual mug that Rusty had managed to shatter the week prior. "Good morning, Captain" He welcomed the pair as they arrived in the murder room.

"Good Morning, Lieutenant" Sharon greeted, the child trailing behind her as he kept his eyes peeled on his Nintendo screen and the birds as they were released from their slings and thrown towards the tower in a bid to knock them down and take out the swine. As Sharon came to a stop in the middle of the murder room, Rusty all but banged into her legs as he focused more on knocking out as many swines as possible as oppose to watching where he was going. "Oh, hi!" Rusty said, looking around at the team as he raised his hand to wave at them before returning his attention to the game as he walked over to Andy's desk, sitting himself down onto the man's spinning chair.

Sharon leaned against the desk as she listened to the team filling her in on the case, running her through the evidence, listening to Provenza once again sound like a broken record as he declared. "It's the husband. It's always the husband!" Sharon had to resist the urge to chuckle to herself, you would think that after several decades in the police force that the man would have figured out that it wasn't always the husband. Sometimes - not always.

Sharon lost herself in the case. When she looked up to check on Rusty through the glass window of her office, she sighed to herself as she noticed the time. It was already one in the afternoon and they were no where near finding a break in the case.

Pushing herself up from her seat, Sharon walked out of her office and towards Provenza's desk, where the child was currently sitting with the miniature chess board that Provenza kept for when he was in the office. "How about I get us something to eat?" Sharon suggest, mindful of the fact she had eaten nothing more than two chucks of pineapple and a sip of Earl Grey.

"Already done, Captain!" Andy announced as he stepped into the room, with Provenza trailing behind with their drink orders, two cardboard holders balancing on top of one another.

Rusty's eyes widened as he spotted the familiar white paper bag clutched in Andy's hand, the room filling with the heavy aroma of freshly grilled burgers. "Burgers!" The boy cheered, even though he usually persuaded Sharon to allow him to have burgers on a Friday or Saturday night.

Folding her arms, Sharon looked at the paper bag with a hesitate, cautious gaze " I don't know Rusty, you had a takeout last night" Sharon thought aloud, her voice filled with hesitation.

"Let the kid have a treat once in a while, Sharon" Andy argued, resting his hand on Rusty's shoulder as he dumped the white paper bag down in front of the child, watching as Rusty reached out and unwrapped the burger from its paper bag as though it was a precious present.

"Yeah, Sharon" Rusty said, attempting to impersonate Andy's strong, masculine voice as best he could. Sharon decided that there was no point in arguing with the pair of them.

Sharon felt as though her eyes might jump out of their sockets when she watched Provenza place Rusty's drink in front of him, the cardboard cartoon was taller than the child's face, and by Sharon's estimates was more than a healthy dose of his daily serving of sugar. "Lieutenant?" She asked, her eyebrow raising as she folded her arms in front of her chest. Sharon was not amused.

"It's a Saturday, Captain. When did a little extra sugar ever do anyone any harm?" Provenza asked, holding his hands out as he placed the remaining drinks on the corner of his desk. Sharon rolled her eyes as she accepted her usual salad and greek yogurt from Andy. "Well, you can deal with him when he's on a sugar high then" Sharon compromised, deciding to head to the break room for a bottle of water than chancing her arm with the high sugar drinks that the two men had brought with them.

Now she knew why she never got asked to do the lunch run.

With Sachez and Amy out picking up a suspect, while Tao and Buzz worked on the CCTV, Andy offered to play a game of chess with Rusty; mainly because Sharon had confiscated his nintendo as he was already over his 'three hours a day limit'.

"The kid beat me again!" Andy protested, leaving his bishop down on the side of the desk as he narrowed his eyes as he looked across the table at the boy. "You just can't play very well, Andy" Rusty revealed between carefree laughter as he took in the man's annoyed look. It certainly wasn't easy to be beaten by a child, especially in a game like chess. "Though that's okay, old people can't play chess very well" He said, shrugging his shoulders as he stopped laughing and set the chess board up again.

Provenza was finding this far too amusing.

Resting his hands on the back of his head, he tried his best to silence his laughter as he looked at the mortified expression on Andy's face. "If you find it so amusing, Mr. Einsten, then you have a go at it!" Andy declared across the room, getting up from his spot across from Rusty and leaving it open for Provenza.

"Lieutenant Provenza" Sharon began as she shut the door of her office behind her, turning around to face the man in question. "Just a moment, Captain" Provenza requested, holding his hand out in protest, though kept his eyes fixed firmly on the chess pieces in the middle of the chess board. Walking towards the desk, Sharon watched as Rusty lifted one of the chess pieces nearest to him before moving it forward. Never in all of her years in the LAPD, had Sharon Raydor saw Provenza with such a look of concentration on his face.

"This is what happens when you dose him with sugar - he gets competitive" Sharon declared in a tell tale 'I told you so' voice, as she look from Andy to Provenza, hopefully they had learned the hard way not to give Rusty sugar.

"And you couldn't have told us that earlier?" Provenza muttered as he lifted his bishop and moved the piece across the board, only for Rusty to once again get the upper hand.

"Well, I did warn you" She reminded him as she rounded the desk to stand behind Provenza, looking down at the chess board. Placing her hands firmly on her hips, Sharon watched as Provenza was royally beaten to a post by the young boy.

"I let him win" Provenza announced, shrugging his shoulders as he tried to act as calm as possible. Andy snorted at the very idea. Provenza didn't let anyone win anything - not even his grandkids. Provenza was a sore loser. "You were saying?" Andy teased, dropping himself down on the desk nearest the pair as Rusty began to clear away his chess board, hiding it away in the bottom drawer of Provenza's desk.

Hearing the sound of footsteps edging closer to the door, Provenza and Andy headed towards the electronics room, knowing that Amy and Sachez would be taking the suspect directly to the interview room. "Will you be okay here?" Sharon asked as she came to a stop in front of Provenza's desk, watching as Rusty logged himself onto Provenza's computer, taking his stack of DVDs out of his backpack. "Yeah" Rusty replied, opening up the disk drive and putting his DVD in.

Sharon suspected that Buzz was no doubt to blame for Rusty's advancing knowledge of computers.

"I'll be in the interview room, once I'm finished here we can head home" Sharon informed him, though by now the boy was more concerned with putting his headphones in than listening to his foster mother. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Sharon headed towards the interview room, content to listen to the gentle giggles of the boy as he became engrossed in his favourite show.

"It seems the kid's passed out from a sugar rush" Provenza said, stating the obvious as he walked towards the desk where the child was fast asleep. Reaching over the boy, he turned off the computer screen where Tom had been rather unsuccessfully trying to chase Jerry

Sharon had to resist the urge to roll her eyes, this was exactly why she didn't overload him with sugar.

"I'll have to wake him up now" Sharon complained, knowing that the child would be as crabbed as a cat if woken from his peaceful sleep.

"Let him sleep, I'll carry him down" Andy announced, pushing himself up from his seat before walking towards his partner in crime's desk . Sharon collected Rusty's game console and toys, pulling them into her Gucci tote before throwing it onto her shoulder.

The walk down to the parking garage had been a quiet one. Both adults remaining silent in a bid to keep Rusty asleep on the man's shoulder, both fully aware of just how moody children could be if woken up unexpectedly in their sleep.

Arriving at the car, Sharon turned the lock in the driver's door before opening the back passenger door for Andy. She tried her best to hide her smile as she watched the Lieutenant lower the boy into the back seat, buckling him up while attempting to turn Sharon's trench coat into a comfortable pillow for the boy.

Shutting the door, Andy turned around to face the woman waiting behind him. "That should be him now, I really am sorry about the sugar thing, Sharon" He confessed, moving his hand up to brush the back of his neck. He should have known better. "It's okay, you probably helped him forget the fact I was meant to go and get that game for him" She revealed, surprised that the boy hadn't caused more of a fuss about not getting his Angry Birds game - especially after spending most of the week before counting down the days and hours until she would buy it for him.

"Safe home, Sharon" Andy said, flashing him one last smile before glancing in at the sleeping child in the car. Burying his hands in the pockets of his dress trousers, Andy began making his way back towards the elevator, deciding that he and Provenza - not doubt to the displeasure of the other man - could handle the paperwork on this case.

Settling herself down in the passenger seat, Sharon embraced the unusual, but welcomed, silence before she glanced through the rearview mirror at the sleeping child.

Saturdays never failed to amused her.


	2. Monday

**'Monday'**

Monday mornings were always an adventure in the Raydor household.

Jack once spent most of his Monday mornings recovering from his latest hangover.

Emily had to drag herself out of bed to get out of the house on time.

Ricky often refused to move out of his bed, until prompted to by the promise of a Starbucks run on their way out.

Sharon depended on her trusty coffee to get her through the day.

Yet, none of them hated Mondays as much as Rusty did.

"Rusty, you have to go to school" Sharon insisted, before hearing a mumbled cough escape from under the duvet covers. "I'm sick" The boy muttered, lifting his Spider-Man duvet cover to fill his lungs with fresh air before returning back into his makeshift cave. Sharon raised a suspicious eyebrow, curious as to whether this was one of his usual stunts to try to get a day off school, or if her adoptive son was in fact ill.

Sitting herself down on the bed, she slowly peeled away the duvet cover to rest her hand against the six year old's forehead, feeling the sudden rise in temperature as she pushed back his sweat soaked hair. "Rusty" She said, pushing the covers back as she listened to the child coughing into his teddy bear. "When did you start feeling sick?" She questioned, pulling her iPhone out of her blazer pocket, dialing the number of her doctor's office. "This morning" He replied, sitting up in bed as he cuddled his teddy bear close to his chest, looking up at his mother as he sneezed loudly.

"Right, get your hoodie and trainers - I have to run to the office, then we'll take you to the doctors" Sharon announced, already on her feet as she headed towards the kitchen to fetch a glass of milk and some tissues. Scrolling through her iPhone, she juggled it in one hand while pouring the milk with the other, hurriedly sending Andy a text to let him know that she'd be in the office later than usual.

Grabbing the glass of milk, and stashing the bottle of calpol under her arm, Sharon made a beeline back into Rusty's bedroom, glad that she had taken the precaution of replacing the usual suede Manolo heels for sensible ballet flats.

No, Sharon Raydor most certainly was not a fan of Mondays.

* * *

Sharon's arrival in the murder room was sounded not by the usual click-clacking of her heels, but by the wheezing cough of her son. "Sounds like someone is sick" Provenza announced, stating the obvious as his eyes followed the Captain and her child through the room as they headed towards her office.

"What's up?" Andy asked, concern laced his voice as he reached out to place his hand on Rusty's shoulder, uncomfortable at the sight of the boy in such a state. Hair sticky with sweat, his eyes heavy and his usual cheeky grin nowhere in sight. He hadn't been around much when his own children were that age, but he could still tell when a kid was genuinely sick and not just pulling the strings to get a lazy day in bed.

"Rusty has a fever and I need to take him to the doctors, but I have this meeting with Taylor and the FBI liaison that I can't get out of" Sharon began to explain, her hands moving frantically around as she tried to retrieve her notes for the meeting from her handbag while keeping an eye on the child at her side. "Do you want me to take him?" Andy suggested, stopping Sharon in her tracks.

She had raised Emily and Ricky with virtually no help from Jack; she had done it all by herself. Sharon had dealt with every sleepless night, doctor's visit and childhood illness all by herself. It wasn't normal for her to accept help from someone else - but Andy wasn't just anyone else.

"Are you sure?" Sharon questioned, hesitant to take him up on his offer too quickly. Her overprotective maternal side was starting to come out, and the control freak in her wanted to be there to oversee the doctor's visit and make sure everything was okay; but this meeting with the Chief and the Mayor had been on the books for months and Taylor would never let her live it down if she failed to show up.

"Of course, I have the spare car seat in the boot of my car and we can pick up lunch for everyone on the way back" Andy insisted, remembering when he had to go and pick the kid up from school the week before when Sharon was at court with Andrea. He wasn't afraid to admit that he liked spending time with the kid, and if it helped Sharon out, then even better. He wanted her to know that he was here for him, whatever she needed - day or night.

Rusty raised his head from Sharon's side at the mention of food. "Hamburgers?" He suggested in a hoarse voice, his eyes gained a glimmer at the likelihood of stopping by the diner down the street. Sharon reserved such visits to the weekends, and even then it was only as a reward, but Andy was a different case entirely - Rusty had him wrapped around his little finger, much to the annoyance of Sharon.

Reluctantly, Sharon handed the boy's backpack over to Andy, scribbling down the address of the clinic and the name of the Doctor. "You ring me as soon as the Doctor has seen him" She insisted, letting Andy take the items out of her hands with a confident nod of his head. "Don't worry, Sharon, the kid is in good hands" He promised her, putting the backpack over his shoulder as he glanced down at the address, glad to find that it was only a fifteen minute drive away.

"All I've given him is a spoonful of calpol - he woke up this morning with a high temperature, sneezing and a horrible cough." Sharon explained to him, having retrieved her notebook and agenda from her bag as she adjusted her glasses onto the bridge of her nose. "His past medical history should be on his file but if there's any difficulty give me a ring" She insisted, leaning down to press a kiss on Rusty's cheek, placing her hand against his forehead to cheek his temperature before looking up at Andy. "Thank you for this" She smiled at him, resisting the urge to thank him with a kiss on the cheek. Although their relationship was gradually moving beyond being more than a friendship, she wasn't comfortable with too many public displays of affection in front of the rest of the team. "Make sure he rings me, okay?" Sharon asked Rusty, flashing him one last smile before turning on her heel to head towards the Chief's office.

Getting his car keys out of the top drawer of his desk, Andy watched as Sharon walked away, watching as her shoulders tensed up in the knowledge that she was once again put in a position of trying to balance family life with work. She didn't deserve to go through that alone.

"Come on, kid" Andy directed, leading the young boy out towards the elevators. "Do you think the Doctors have any candy?" Rusty asked, bringing his blanket to his face to hide the yawn that escaped his lips as he trailed after Andy towards the elevator. "I'm sure we can find you some from somewhere" Andy assured him, not surprised that even in a time like this, that the kid was thinking of his stomach and his sweet tooth.

"I've never been to the doctors before" Rusty announced, hardly moving his eyes from their fixed position on the screen of Andy's iPhone as he completed another level of Tsum Tsum. Andy raised an eyebrow as he looked up from the paperwork he was currently completing to give to the doctor's assistant. "Well, what did you do when you were sick?" He asked, setting the paperwork to one side as he gave the boy his undivided attention. Rusty simply shrugged his shoulders in response, "I don't know...just stay in bed I guess, my other mom didn't care very much." Rusty confessed with a heavy sigh, breaking eye contact with the phone screen, pulling at the bottom of his sleeves, a habit Andy noticed he did when he was nervous.

"Rusty, how long have you been feeling unwell for?" Andy asked suspiciously, fairly certain that his suspicions were about to be confirmed. "A day or two, I didn't want to annoy mom about it though" Rusty confessed, guessing from Andy's tone of voice that he hadn't done the right thing.

"Kid, you know, you shouldn't keep these things from your mom. We both know how much she worries." Andy reminded him, watching as the child lowered his head. He couldn't be too hard on the boy, after all, he wasn't the only one who kept things from Sharon. "How about we make a deal? You promise to tell your mom the next time you're not feeling well, and I promise to talk her into taking you to see that new Marvel movie when you're feeling better?" He suggested, fairly certain that he knew the kid well enough to know how to talk him around when times got tough. "Okay then, but she has to get the sweet popcorn" Rusty added, nodding his head as his lips curled up in a small smile. "Sweet popcorn - got it" He acknowledged the boy's request with a smile and a pat on the back.

The sky blue door into the waiting area opened and the nurse appeared around the corner, clipboard in hand. "Rusty Raydor?" She called, her blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders as she smiled brightly. "That's us" Andy responded, standing up from the seat, Rusty's backpack in tow as he held the Doctor's office.

"Andy" Rusty said, causing the man to stop in his tracks and bend down to his height. "Yeah, kid?" He asked, worried that the child had worked himself up about seeing the Doctor for the first time. "Don't forget about my candy" Rusty reminded him, a mischievous smile finding its way to his face, even in his state of sickness. "You betcha, Rusty" Andy assured him, chuckling to himself as he stood back up to his full height, holding the office door open for the boy.

Even Monday's clouds had a silver lining.

* * *

"Thankfully we've caught it before it can go to his chest - it's a nasty cough though, but if he takes these antibiotics for the next few days he should be fine - I recommend a five day cycle of them, if it gets any worse, take him back here" The Doctor concluded, standing up from her seat to walk towards Rusty, reaching inside her spacious pocket to produce the wrapped candy before holding it out for Rusty to take as she produced a bottle from her medicine drawer.

"Now you make sure your dad gives you this three times a day" The doctor announced, turning around to hand the bottle of yellow medicine "I recommend giving this to your son after each meal, and with a tall glass of water to wash it down" She called over her shoulder, handing the candy over to the eager child who was eyeing it up as though it was the last of its sort in all of Los Angeles.

"Oh, I'm not…" Andy began, putting his hand out to protest to the insinuation that he was the boy's father, but before he could finish, Rusty had gotten himself down from the bed and was walking towards him. "Come on, _Dad_ " Rusty insisted, putting his backpack on as he headed towards the door, mindful that it was almost lunchtime and that his companion owed him a hamburger - maybe he could stretch to a toffee ice cream sundae as well?

Andy simply shook his head at the child's antics, accepting the medicine from the doctor with a polite smile and a gracious thank you before following the boy out towards the reception. "Just let me call the others to see what they want us to bring back" He stated, dialing the familiar number of Sharon's office phone, knowing that if she wasn't in then Amy or Provenza would answer it.

* * *

Opening up his anticipated candy, Rusty watched as Andy stood at the counter, ordering their meals and the takeout food for the rest of the team. The candy tasted like honey-lemon throat lozenges, but he didn't complain. Usually, he would have been over playing on the old Pac-Man machine, instead he sat silently in the booth nearest the counter, his eyes fixed on the Lieutenant. Leaning back on the seat, Rusty pulled his jacket closer to his chest as he rested his head down on the armrest.

When Andy returned, he sighed to himself as he placed his phone down on the counter between them. "Your mom must still be in the meeting" He concluded, knowing better than to let his calls go to voicemail more than twice - the last thing he wanted was to make her worry. If Sharon thought something had gone wrong at the Doctors, he wouldn't be surprised if she got a police escort down there. "Yeah" Rusty agreed, lifting his head as he watched the man for several moments as a comfortable silence fell over them.

When their food arrived, Rusty picked around his french fries after having a mouthful or two of his hamburger "You like my mom, don't you?" He questioned suddenly, his words almost causing Andy to choke on his water. "Well, Rusty…" Andy began, unsure how to answer such a question from the curious six year old. "I mean, it isn't that bad if you do. I actually like you and mom does too" He announced as enthusiastically as a child dosed with a cold could.

"Is that right?" Andy asked, leaning forward on his seat as he listened intently to what the child had to say, raising his eyebrow in the process. "Yep, she's always a lot happier when you're around - and you're a much better cook than Mom, though she's good at making cookies" Rusty announced, as though letting loose the darkest secret he had in his collection. Andy chuckled at that, he was all too aware of the danger of allowing Sharon Raydor into the kitchen. She was the perfect baker of cookies and sweet treats, but not when it came to proper dinners. The majority of the time it was simple meals, and the nights when Sharon had to stay at the office late, they usually got a takeout meal from the Italian or Greek restaurants around the corner from their condo.

"I'll keep that in mind - now, you best finish your lunch otherwise you won't have time for that sundae of yours" Andy reminded him, watching as the child began to eat his food with newfound eagerness while he occupied himself with texting Sharon to assure her that everything was okay and that they would be back at the office soon.

Perhaps having Rusty as his partner in crime might help him persuade Sharon to come to Le Surf with him. After all, Sharon couldn't say no to both him and the boy.


	3. Cabin Getaway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This piece was requested by captaindorkybadass on tumblr, who wanted to see a "weekend with Shandy and Rusty on a phase of asking 'why'." If you guys have any requests, please feel free to leave them here in the form of a review or drop me a message on tumblr.

**Cabin Getaway**

It had started out easy.

_"Mom, why is the sky blue?"_

_"Andy, why do we drive on this side of the road?"_

_"Mom, Andy, why does Uncle Louie wear that silly hat?"_

It wasn't until they went on a weekend break that the questioning became non-stop. Sharon had talked Taylor into granting the team a four day weekend, arguing that the department couldn't afford anymore overtime - they had practically spent the yearly budget in three months - and that the entire team was due a much needed break. It hadn't taken Andy much to convince Sharon to let him book a cabin for them for the week, away from the hustle and bustle of the busy city - and far away from any possible murder scenes.

Sharon had once read, over two decades ago when she had been expecting Ricky and had owned practically every parenting book from 'What to Expect When You're Expecting' to 'How to Develop Your Child's Self-Esteem', that children usually developed a habit of asking 'why' questions between the ages of two and three. She had no doubt in her mind that Rusty was only asking them now because Sharon Beck showed no interest in answering such questions when her son had been a toddler; for the little amount of time she was actually around.

For that reason, she had no problem entertaining the constant questioning, especially when it was providing some amusing moments, especially where Andy was concerned.

"Andy?" Rusty asked, his voice going up half a pitch in a tone that became symbolic of the fact that a 'why' question was about to follow. He walked from the lounge area, where he had been sitting on the floor at Sharon's feet, playing with his Captain America and Iron Man action figures, and crossed over through the open planned room into the kitchen, where he pulled himself up onto a bar stool at the breakfast bar in front of Andy.

"Yes, kid" Andy replied, glancing up from where he stood behind the stove, preparing their vegetarian stir-fry for dinner.

"Why don't you live with us all the time?" Rusty inquired, his question catching Sharon off guard to the extent where she almost choked on a sip of her chardonnay. Andy's eyes searched across the room for Sharon, hoping she could offer some assistance to answering Rusty's latest round of questions, but instead, his girlfriend had decided to bury her head in her tattered copy of _'Jane Eyre'_ and pretend as though she hadn't almost spilled her wine over herself. "Well...it's complicated, kid" Andy replied, hoping his answer would satisfy the child as he lifted some plates out of the cupboard and placed them on the breakfast bar as the food finished on the stove. "Why?" Rusty repeated, resting his elbows on the marble as he placed his chin against his the palm of his hand. His six year old mind couldn't process why the man came with them on every trip and vacation, as well as staying at the condo most weekends, without actually living with them.

"Uhm..you see..I see have my own house that I…" Andy began to explain, but Rusty quickly cut him off. "Why?" He began, his brow drawn in confusion as he interpreted the older man. "Can you not just sell it?" Rusty concluded, reaching out to pick up his BB-8 cup from beside the sink, failing to notice the confused reaction he had gained from his mother's partner. When Sharon and Andy had first started dating, it had been clear that Rusty wasn't overly comfortable with the new development, which both adults had understood completely and had expected given his history. Though, gradually he began to open up to the idea, and now, none of them could remember a time when Rusty wasn't far from Andy's side. Still, Andy wasn't expecting the boy to all but ask him to move in with him and his mother.

It was Sharon's turn to save him. Taking pity on her partner, Sharon placed her book and wine to the side before heading towards the breakfast bar, having grabbed Rusty's action figures on her way past. "Rusty, why don't you put your toys away and grab a DVD from your backpack for us to watch after dinner?" Sharon suggested, hanging the action figures off to Rusty as the boy helped himself off the bar stool and made his way towards his bedroom down the hallway of the cabin.

"And to think, you were the one who insisted that his questioning was a good thing" Sharon joked, playfully nudging Andy in the shoulder as she moved past him to take the cutlery out of the top drawer so that she could set the table for their dinner. "What do you expect when the kid's parents are cops?" Andy chuckled, hardly realising the implications of his own words, though they weren't lost on Sharon, who let her lips curl up in a smile as she finished setting out the plates and the glasses.

* * *

The following day, Andy had taken Rusty out to the woods behind the cabin grounds to give Sharon some time alone to relax. It was perhaps the first time in months that she had truly had some time to herself, not that she was complaining of course. Curling up on the sofa, she let the television screen settle on a replay of 'The Good Wife' as she flicked through a copy of Vanity Fair that she had picked up from a petrol station on the drive down to the cabin.

She had hardly noticed how long they were gone until there was a bang at the door, followed by the rustling of clothes as Rusty all but fell over himself to get inside. When she stood from her seat to greet the pair, she hadn't expected to find her son covered from head to toe in dirt, mud and leaves sticking to his clothes. There was visible lines of dirt across his cheeks, as though he had ran his muck covered hands across his pale skin. "Sorry, Sharon. Rusty decided it would be a good idea to make a run for it and go and play in the leaves" Andy admitted as he shook out of his jacket. Sharon was glad to see that at least one of them came back primarily clean.

"Rusty, don't go any further." Sharon warned, already spotting a trail of muddy footprints leading from the door to the lounge. The last thing she wanted to do was have to mop all the floors. Rusty froze on the spot as though playing a game of musical statues. "You need to get those boots off you and go straight to the bath" She insisted, watching as her son dropped himself down to the floor, attempting to undo the laces of his now mud-caked boots, before Andy bent down beside him and helped him take each shoe off. Sharon wasn't even surprised to find that even his socks were filthy. Trust her son to get virtually every piece of clothing dirty.

"Why do I have to take a bath?" Rusty protested, standing up to his full height, letting Sharon seeing for the first time the full extent of the dirt and muck that had attached itself to her youngest child's clothing. "Because you and Andy have been outside in the dirt and you've gotten yourself covered in it" Sharon insisted, folding her arms in front of her chest as she anticipated the boy in front of her to put up a fight. Rusty didn't usually pull temper tantrums but he had clearly inherited his adoptive mother's stubbornness when it came to standing his ground.

As Rusty opened his mouth, no doubt to ask another 'why' question, Andy stepped forward and placed his hands on Rusty's shoulders. "I've got this one" Andy compromised, knowing that it was his turn to deal with Rusty. Sharon watched with amusement as he tried to coach Rusty into going to the bathroom, eventually negotiating the terms of their treaty to two tickets to the new Batman v. Superman film, a bucket of popcorn and a slushee.

Perhaps Rusty's 'why?' phase wasn't going to be so bad after all.


	4. Sense of Occasion

**Sense of Occasion**

"So what do you have to do?" Andy asked, seated uncomfortably on one of the small seats at the round tables which surrounded the centre of the daycare's toy room.

"Get mom to stop at Target on the way home, to give you and the others enough time to get to the house, then make sure she goes in the front door and not the back" Rusy repeated, rhyming off the duties that Andy had handed down to him. The detective had made a point about coming down to visit him in the daycare centre, to ensure that he was fully involved in the arrangements for that evening. After all, it was Rusty who had suggested a surprise party. "Are you sure mom will be okay that you're pretending to have forgotten her birthday?" Rusty asked, certain that he knew the woman well enough to know she would be at the very least hurt, if not confused, by it all.

Andy knew he was already in Sharon's bad book as she had been behaving odd all day, most likely as result of the sudden sense of forgetfulness that had fallen over their team. Of course, they were all in on the secret. Sharon's birthdays were never grand affairs to begin with; for a woman with a sense of occasion, she insisted on the least amount of fuss necessary for her birthday.

"Let's just hope she enjoys the party and it's all worth it" Andy replied, standing from the seat, stretching his back as he made a mental note to avoid chairs designed for children in the future.

* * *

By the time that he had arrived back up in the murder room, he could have cut the tension in the room with a butter knife. The Captain was standing in the centre of the room, her hands clamped to her slender waist while Provenza was lounged at his length on his leather seat. Clearly his partner had already gotten under the skin of his girlfriend and boss.

"You do whatever you think is best, Lieutenant" Sharon exclaimed, her voice dripping in sarcasm as she shook her head, her arms folded as she took a defensive stance at the opposite side of the room.

It wasn't often that Sharon's usually tame temper got the better of her. Though today of all days, she had expected her team to show a little more curtesy. She never asked for much; just a few remarks of 'Happy Birthday, Captain' and maybe an arrangement of her favourite peonies and a bottle of Chardonnay. Most years, like clock work, she would arrive into the office and the others would be waiting for her, gift in hand. It wasn't the lack of gifts that had upset her, it was the apparent disregard they had for her. For each of their birthdays, she had been responsible for arranging their gifts, as well as their birthday lunch or dinner. For Mike's birthday last year, she even with to the trouble of having a small cake arranged for him.

"I'm surrounded by people with no sense of occasion" Sharon muttered under her breath as she headed back towards her office. Once inside, she turned the blinds over and forced awake her kettle, lifting a teabag and a cup to make herself a much needed cup of Earl Grey.

What had upset her most of all, was the fact that Andy, of all people, had made no mention of her birthday. Rusty had woke her up with a handmade card and his best attempt at making a cup of tea. She hadn't the heart to tell the boy that the water had to be boiled first, and the teabag taken out. So far, the six year old was the only one to remember the importance of today.

She spent the remainder of the afternoon locked away in her office. Thankfully, their case had been solved the night before and all that was left was the traditional pile of paperwork. As the clock chimed five o'clock, she placed the lid on her fountain pen and locked slipped the remainder of her paperwork into her briefcase.

Balancing on her Manolos, she made a beeline towards the door. "Andy" Sharon called, coming to a stop behind Andy's desk. He raised his head at the sound of his name, biting the inside of his lip as he resisted the temptation to put her out of her misery. "Yes, Captain?" He replied, attempting to appear as though his entire focus was on the report currently loaded on his computer screen, and not miles away worrying about if the caterers had safely delivered the food for the party.

Sharon lowered her head for a moment, sighing deeply before pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm going to pick up Rusty from daycare; we're still having dinner tonight aren't we?" She inquired, concerned that she had said something to Andy that had upset him. He never acted this way around her, he never deliberately ignored her; that was a tactic favoured by Jack, not Andy. "Yeah, yeah, sure" Andy insisted, shrugging his shoulder as he brushed off her question. He hated having to act like this, but he couldn't have her suspecting that he was up to something. He wanted to surprise her, but he could only hope that it would all be worth it in the end.

"Right then" Sharon snapped, her fingertips gripping onto the handle of her bag as she turned on her heel to head down the hallway towards the daycare. At least if nothing else, Rusty remembered her birthday. It was times like this that she wonder how she had ever gotten so lucky - it was by a stroke of sheer luck that Rusty had came into her life. Today above all days, she was thankful for him.

Provenza watched in annoyance, rolling his eyes as he resisted the urge to groan over the antics of his friend. "You better hope she likes this surprise Flynn, because I'm not putting up with this for nothing you know" Provenza exclaimed, throwing down his crossword puzzle as he internally questioned how wise his friend's decision was. "Just make sure you remember to pick up the rest of the wine on your way over" Andy remarked, choosing to ignore the sarcasm of his usual partner in crime. Standing from his desk, he gathered his car keys and retreated towards the car park. If Rusty could keep Sharon distracted long enough, then Andrea and Amy should have enough time to finish setting up the food at his house, and he could still have time to stop by the bakery to pick up her cake.

* * *

When Provenza arrived at Andy's home, it was a frenzy of activity. For many years, it was hardly used with the exception of being a place for Andy to sleep and occasionally prepare meals. Now for the first time, Provenza could honestly consider the place to be Andy's home. Once through the front door, he quickly was handed a bottle of champagne and a corkscrew. "I have no idea when Sharon and the kid are going to get here - so make yourself useful" Andy called over his shoulder, already half way back to the kitchen, leaving his friend at the doorstep.

As he ventured further into the house, he almost tripped over Rusty's toy car when moving from the hallway and into the lounge. Taking a closer look around the lounge, it was the first time that Andy's house looked truly as though it had been lived in. There was little signs of Rusty and Sharon throughout the place; a copy of Wuthering Heights sat beside the coffee table - clearly Sharon's - while a number of children's DVDs had replaced the area where Andy's old car magazines used to be piled up.

No sooner had Provenza managed to open the bottle of champagne, than the sounds of a car engine coming to a stop sounded from the driveway. "Andy, she's here" Andrea shouted, dodging between Gavin and Mike as she made a beeline towards the kitchen, dragging both men along with her. Andy was quick to guide his guests through from the lounge to the arch which divided the kitchen and the lounge.

From his hiding space beside the lounge chair, Provenza watched closely as the figure of a woman and child appeared at Andy's back door, which led directly into the kitchen.

As Sharon twisted the doorknob, she used one hand to search for the light switch while using the other to keep a hold of Rusty's hand. "Mom" Rusty started, tugging on the end of his mother's sleeve as his lips curled up in a boyish grin. "Yes, Rusty?" Sharon asked, turning her head to look down at her son. "Surprise" Rusty whispered, as the overhead lights simultaneously switched on, illuminating Andy's kitchen, and the small array of people who were hidden in the corner under the arch which led into the living room.

"Surprise" Andy called, his lips curling up in a smile as he stepped from the crowd and towards the frozen figure of his girlfriend. Andrea appeared at her side with a champagne flute, while Amy took Rusty from her side and over towards the dining table that had been set up as a makeshift buffet area. "I should have known that you hadn't forgotten" Sharon breathed, shaking her head as she recalled just how short-tempered she had been with them all earlier in the day. Her eyes widened as she admired the work and effort that her partner had put into her surprise party.

"Well, I couldn't have done it all without the kid" Andy confessed, slipping his arm around Sharon's waist as he guided her towards the table. Honestly, it was the kid who had given him the idea after all. "I feel like such an idiot" Sharon joked, shaking her head as a gentle flush came to her cheeks. She should have expected this of him, but then again, no one had ever shown such kindness to her.

"Well none of that now, there's enough food here to feed the entire LAPD" Provenza assured her, eagerly standing at the buffet table with a plate in his hand, already eyeing up the various dishes. Trust Andy to order enough food to feed a hundred people when he only invited a small gathering of twenty. Unable to wait any longer, he lifted the utensils and started filing his plate with rice, occasionally assisting Rusty when the child's arms proved too short to reach across the table.

Shaking his head at the antics of his friend, Andy turned his head to look at his partner. "I hope you're not too mad at me" He started, taking her hand as Gavin handed a plate of food over to the birthday girl. "You've got a keeper there, Shar. Who knew you weren't the only one with a sense of occasion?" Gavin joked, flashing a pearly white smile at the couple before busying himself with refilling the wine glasses, most importantly his own.

Reaching in, Andy dropped a kiss against her cheek, cautious of the fact that she wasn't in favour of overly exaggerated public displays of affection. "Happy birthday, Sharon" He smiled down at her, confident that in the end, he had done the right thing. "Thank you, Andy, for everything" She breathed, resting her head down against his shoulder. She could only hope that he knew how much he meant to her. Jack could hardly remember her birthday most years, and the fact that he had went to all this trouble - it proved above all else that he wasn't Jack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to captainepoppins on tumblr for this prompt.


	5. Breathe Me [Part 1]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This piece was requested by the lovely Cari, who asked for a one-shot where Rusty ends up having surgery, and Andy tries to help Sharon cope. I've been working on this piece gradually since June, and I'm glad it's finally being posted. A special thank you goes out to 'captainepoppins', for helping me with this pieces. From here on, all pieces will come in chronological order; so the next piece will directly follow the events of this.
> 
> I'm not going to lie, this was difficult for me to write. This is being left on a semi-cliffhanger because at least if I post the first part, I'll feel accountable to have to post the second part. As well as that, it would have ended up at 5 or 6 thousand words if it remained as one piece.
> 
> Also, a small-ish side note. I got accepted into my first choice of law schools, so I'll be moving to London on the 17th September. Hopefully being away from the chaos of normal life might give me a bit of extra time – though I doubt it – to finally get back into writing properly. As always, feel free to leave prompts!
> 
> On another note, for anyone who was reading 'President, Prophet, Parent', I am hopefully planning to finally update it before I move. Let me know if you would still be interested in reading it if I did decide to continue it.

**Breathe Again | Part 1**

Ricky had broken his leg when he was ten.

Emily had a clean bill of health her entire childhood if you could write off the constantly twisted ankles that came as a prerequisite for being a ballet dancer.

None of her children was ever seriously ill, at least not enough to require surgery, not until now…

As far as working days went for the Major Crimes unit, today was the equivalent of a slow news day. Sharon was trapped away in Taylor's office at a departmental budget meeting while the rest of the team were soldiering on with the paperwork that had been gradually suffocating their desks over recent weeks.

The clock which was mounted on the wall above their heads chimed as the hands struck one in the afternoon. As though on cue, Provenza dropped his crossword and stretched out his arms. "I think all this paperwork calls for lunch" He announced, rubbing his hands together as he imagined the club sandwich that he was planning to order from their local deli around the corner. "I would hardly categorise doing the crossword as paperwork" Andy reminded him, standing from his desk as he slipped his blackberry and wallet into the pocket of his blazer.

Glancing over his shoulder, he looked through the open blinds of Sharon's office and towards her empty desk. He made a mental note to pick up one of her favourite salads from the deli bar and an iced tea; her meeting was bound to finish soon anyway. As he started to stack his paperwork away, the phone in Sharon's office shrilled to life. "I'll get it" Amy offered, standing from her desk to walk towards the blaring noise of the phone. On the way past, she noticed the illuminated screen of Sharon's iPhone with a half a dozen missed calls from the same number. Lifting the phone from the cradle, she pressed it against her ear. "Hello," She answered, being met by a whirlwind of panicked words that seemed to stumble over each other.

"Andy, it's Rusty's babysitter. It sounds urgent" Amy shouted, her hand covering the voice receiver of the phone as she heard Andy stop in his tracks. "Sharon must still be in her meeting with Taylor, I'll take it" Andy agreed, throwing his blazer back over his desk as he walked towards Sharon's office. Yet, there was a feeling in the pit of his stomach that something wasn't right; the babysitter never rang Sharon during the day, and most certainly not to the office. This feeling was only amplified by the look on Amy's face; snatching the phone into his hand, he could hear the panic breathing down the other end of the line.

"Becky, it's Andy," He said, holding his breath as he attempted to make sense of the younger woman's words. All he could make out was the words 'Rusty' and 'accident'. "Wait, slow down Becky" Andy insisted, waving through the window at Provenza. It felt as though his heart had fallen out of his chest.

It was every parent's worst nightmare.

_Yet, he wasn't Rusty's father._

He was the boyfriend of his newly adoptive mother.

That didn't explain the feeling he was experiencing. As though someone had forced a knife through his chest, while simultaneously stealing the air from his lungs; like a kiss of death. He hadn't been there for his kids when they were Rusty's age, and there was no denying that Sharon and Rusty had filled that gaping hole in his life.

"What hospital is he in?" Andy asked, his words almost stumbling over each other as he raised his hand to his head. It took one look at his friend for Provenza to know that the unthinkable had happened. He had seen that look before; when they had been sent to notify the family member of the murder victim of their loved one's untimely death.

He never dreamt that he would see it on the face of his best friend.

He appeared around the corner and into Sharon's office as Andy started scribbling down notes onto a post-it note. "Sykes - get the Captain" He ordered, digging around the inside of his jacket in search of his keys. "What's happened?" He asked as he heard the phone click into its socket, as Andy leant forward onto the table, pressing his weight against the wood; as though trying to gather whatever strength was left in him.

"Rusty was at the park...I don't know how many times I've told the kid to watch where he's going..." Andy began to ramble, his mind filling with the worst possible thoughts as he recalled all the times he had told the child off for being too close to the road, for running off from him and Sharon.

What he wouldn't do to be able to tell him off again.

The echoing of heels clicking and clacking took Andy's attention from Provenza to Sharon as she appeared behind him. "What happened?" She asked, and in that moment, she felt as though her entire life was collapsing in on itself. Amy hadn't said much, other than the fact that there had been a serious accident involving Rusty and she had to come quickly.

If the knife had already been forced through his heart, then it was twisted in deeper by the look of terror that had settled itself in Sharon's eyes.

"I don't know much, only that he is at Cesar's" He revealed, already moving across the room towards her, his hands locking onto her arms, as though having sensed that the shock had made her go weak at the knees. "I'm driving" Provenza insisted as he jumped into the conversation, having caught sight of the shaking of Sharon's hands and the haunting look of fear that marked Andy's face.

As Provenza gathered his coat and keys, Amy disappeared into Sharon's office to retrieve the woman's own belongings. "There's a patrol escort waiting at the exit" Mike announced, placing the phone onto its cradle after calling down to the front desk.

In the days and weeks to come, neither Sharon nor Andy would be able to recall much of the events that followed after that. Everything passed in a blur; the car journey, the shrilling cry of the patrol car's siren and the constant thumping of her heart against her chest, as she prayed to whatever gods were listening that Rusty was still breathing.

The car had hardly come to a stop before Sharon reached out to push up the door, her heels scraping against the tarmac as she walked purposefully towards the hospital, her mind fixed on the target of reaching the trauma unit. She had visited the hospital a hundred times in her capacity as an officer of the police force, and only a handful of times as a parent and wife, yet never like this.

By the time she had reached the doors of the trauma unit, Andy had swiftly caught up with her, walking hot on her heels as they pushed the doors open. Sharon came to a sudden stop as her eyes landed on the blonde twenty-five-year-old with whom she had trusted to look after her son.

"Sharon...I...I'm so sorry…" Becky began, stumbling over her words as she stood from her seat as she tried to reach Sharon, who had taken a step back, her hands held up to signal that now was not the time. She would deal with the woman later, but for now, Rusty was all that mattered.

Their heads turned around as a woman cleared her throat to gain their attention. "Are you the boy's parents?" The on-duty nurse inquired, her clipboard under her arm as she took in the distressed appearance of the couple. "Yes, we are" Andy replied, aware that there wasn't enough time to explain the complexity of their family. His hand reached out in search of Sharon's, interlinking his fingers through hers; her grip of his hand tightened as she listened to the nurse.

"He's currently in surgery; he's suffered significant injuries to his left side where the impact occurred; the paramedics on the scene recorded damage to his leg, ribs and lower chest. There's a private waiting room through here" The elderly nurse instructed, nodding her head towards the set of double doors at the far end of the hallway.

Sharon dropped Andy's hand before she headed down the hallway towards the waiting room, phone in hand as she dialled the number of her eldest child. Provenza moved beside Andy, having eventually caught up with the couple. As they followed behind Sharon towards the private waiting room, Provenza could deal that his friend's distress was quickly turning into anger and rage, bubbling up to the surface, something he hadn't seen in the man for months, even years. When the doors shut behind Sharon, Andy turned around to face Provenza, no longer able to contain his feelings "He's a six-year-old boy - how does he get in front of a speeding car?" Andy all but roared, his hands curled up into fists as he paced the floor outside of the waiting room, shaking his head as he tried to picture anything other than the blonde haired child being caught like a deer in headlights by a speeding car.

"What the hell was she doing?" He exclaimed, louder than intended, loud enough for even Sharon to hear through the doors, as he dropped his fist against the wall, banging on it once before pressing his forehead against the cold plaster of the wall. "He's a little boy, she's meant to be looking after him" Andy insisted, although this time, his voice had dropped, struggling above a whisper as he tried to regain his calm.

How was he meant to stay calm when Rusty was in surgery and when Sharon's heart was breaking?

This was the same little boy who made a habit of falling asleep between Sharon and Andy on the couch on a Friday night, who could beat a grown man at chess, and the same little boy who was the centre of the makeshift family that they had formed.

_They couldn't lose him._

"Flynn, the Captain needs you now." Provenza hissed, trying to snap his friend out of the state that he had worked himself into. Stepping towards the man, he placed his hand on his shoulder as he tried to force the taller man to turn around to face him. One of the few things Andy would get emotional about was his family, and he knew better than most how much this family meant to him. Sharon and Rusty had been his second chance at happiness, and in the blink of an eye it was becoming undone, slipping through his fingers like the sands of time and there was nothing any of them could do about that.

"Jesus, Louie, this isn't just anyone - this is the 'kid'" Andy muttered, shaking his head as he attempted to keep his emotions at bay. No matter what anyone said, Rusty was their child; he might not belong to them biologically, but he sure as hell would lay his life down for either the kid or Sharon.

With his hands firmly placed on Andy's shoulders, Provenza looked the man straight in the eyes. "Put your feelings aside for a minute, and go down there and see the Captain." He insisted, well aware that out of all of them, the person who would be suffering most would be the Captain. She didn't need the team right now, she needed her partner.

"I'll make some calls and see who is working the case – I'll make sure they're made aware of just who Rusty is" Provenza compromised, confident that the reputations of both Flynn and Raydor would be enough to ensure that the detectives on Rusty's case left no stone unturned.

"Go, Flynn" He concluded, stepping back from the man to give him free passage to the doors of the waiting room. When Provenza stepped out of his way, Andy wasted no time in making his way through the doors, reaching his partner as she finished her phone call with Emily.

As Sharon sat herself down on the sofa, Andy moved to her side, taking a hold of her hand as it fell to her side. "He's going to be okay, Sharon" He whispered, finding himself making a promise that he didn't know if he could keep. Whispered words of comfort and hopeful promises was all that they could offer each other now. For two people, especially Sharon, who were accustomed to controlling every minor detail of their life, it was agonising to be left waiting…unable to do anything but wait.

"He's a fighter - he's had to be" Andy insisted, doubting the confidence behind his words as he took the boy's mother into his arms as her lips began to tremble and her outer facade started to break down.

What if Rusty wasn't okay?


End file.
